Friday, June 20, 2008

Agriprocessors, the most exploitive employer in American History, has gone beyond the pale! They are invading the Texas streets and collecting the Latino homeless to fill the Postville Agriprocessors jobs. Are these jobs truly work Americans won´t do or is Agriprocessors out to continue to exploit another minority group? (Citizen Latino Homeless)

NEW YORK (JTA)—In an effort to restore lagging production at its plant in Postville, Iowa, the country’s largest kosher meat producer has been hiring workers from homeless shelters in Texas to replace employees detained in a massive federal immigration raid last month. According to a spokesman for the meat producer Agriprocessors, workers are recruited by a firm in Amarillo, Texas, and sent to Postville. Once there, they are processed by Jacobson Staffing, a Des Moines-based company that screens them for drugs and alcohol and ensures they are legally permitted to work in the United States.Several officials in Postville say the new arrivals have created problems for the town. Postville Police Chief Michael Halse told JTA that his officers had arrested four plant workers for disorderly conduct this week.Father Paul Ouderkirk, leader of the local Catholic church, which has played a lead role in helping former workers and their families after last month’s raid, said a mentally challenged woman from Texas had come to his church looking for help with prescription medications. And in an interview Friday with Postville’s local radio station, Diana Morris said she spent three days on a bus from Amarillo only to discover she was expected to live with 10 men in a four-bedroom house that had no electricity or hot water. “Amarillo’s homeless problem has become Postville’s homeless problem,” Jeff Abbas, who runs the KPVL radio station, told JTA.

In a statement Friday to JTA, Jim Martin, Agriprocessors’ newly hired compliance officer, said any allegations that contractors had misled new recruits would be investigated. “We would note that we do not believe that homeless people should be prohibited from applying for employment from Agriprocessors,” Martin added. “In fact, for the appropriate individuals, we welcome the opportunity to offer them the chance to better their lives.” Agriprocessors has been struggling to restore production since authorities conducted the largest immigration raid in U.S. history May 12 at the Postville plant. Nearly half the workforce was rounded up and some 300 workers are now facing deportation, having pleaded guilty to various forms of identity theft and fraud. The company has had trouble getting its production levels back to speed, sparking concerns of a kosher meat shortage around the country.Within weeks of the raid, a Waterloo staffing company withdrew an estimated 150 replacement workers from the plant, citing safety concerns. A group of Native Americans brought in from a smaller Agriprocessors plant in Gordon, Neb., left within days, saying working conditions were worse than expected and the company hadn’t made good on its promises. Those reports have helped prompt several Jewish organizations to call for boycotts of the company. But Rabbi Seth Mandel, rabbinic coordinator for the Orthodox Union, one of two agencies certifying the plant as kosher, says Agriprocessors merely is responding to the dictates of the market. “Most consumers will not pay a premium for free-range, natural or organic beef, no matter how much lip service they pay to the idea,” Mandel wrote in an e-mail obtained by JTA. “The same thing holds true regarding employees and their working conditions. Meat packers would [have] no problem with paying higher wages and make working conditions better—IF the consumers would pay the premium price thereby entailed.”In her interview with Abbas, Morris described how she was recruited from Amarillo with about 15 others and given a Greyhound bus ticket and $15 dollars to pay for food during the 1,000-mile journey. She said she was promised 30 days of free housing as well as a $100 bonus upon arrival. What made the offfer so attractive, Morris said, was the $10 per hour that Agriprocessors is now offering. “Everything down there is about $6 an hour being paid, and that’s the minimum wage,” she said of Texas. Juda Engelmayer, a company spokesman, said that Jacobson determined who was fit to work in the plant and that resources were provided to transport workers back to their homes if they weren’t offered jobs. “They are given the opportunity and the means to go back where they came from,” Engelmayer said. “I don’t know if everyone takes it. Free citizens are free to move around as they wish.”

35 comments:

Liquidmicro
said...

“The same thing holds true regarding employees and their working conditions. Meat packers would [have] no problem with paying higher wages and make working conditions better—IF the consumers would pay the premium price thereby entailed.”

This could be said and spoken of in so many ways.

There is a very niche market for kosher foods, maybe they need to increase the amount of plants they have vs increasing the productivity in just one or two plants.

Right now, due to the plunging dollar and the increase in daily living, certain items are becoming less attractive to the consumer. The employer must charge a rate at which he can operate sufficiently yet create a safe and fair working environment. If the employer has to increase the cost of his product, then he should learn to market his product much better. Costs can be cut in some areas, which can more than make up the difference, any good business with the right team can make it happen.

"Agriprocessors has been struggling to restore production since authorities conducted the largest immigration raid in U.S. history May 12 at the Postville plant. Nearly half the workforce was rounded up and some 300 workers are now facing deportation, having pleaded guilty to various forms of identity theft and fraud. The company has had trouble getting its production levels back to speed, sparking concerns of a kosher meat shortage around the country."

This could be contributed to location, location, location. Location is everything, why would a large business move into a town of about 1200 persons in 1986 and expect to be labor ready? Where did they expect the labor to come from? The meat processing plant that Agri. purchased was a small plant that had been closed for 7 years that previously did slaughtering of local livestock.

Agriprocessors is nothing more than a business that has devastated a local community, changed it in ways that the local population did not approve of and where not hired on to work for. Along with moving the company in they also moved in all their workers, adding to the stress of a small town with not enough resources.

I guess I must have missed something in the article because I didn't see where it mentioned "citizen Latino homeless" in it specifically. The only person mentioned was a woman with a non-hispanic surname. Of course the homeless could be comprised of any race. Usually though most citizen Latinos are very family orientated and if one is down and out their family will usually take them in so they at least have a roof over their heads.

I don't consider the homeless to be a "minority" group. That is usually a term reseved for a racial class not an economic one.

Agri-Processors is just like the rest of the meat slaughtering and packing plants. They all moved their operations out of proximity to large cities where they had an abundance of CITIZEN employees willing and able to do the job and who were paid decent union wages. Dee knows it once living in cowtown USA where I do. Kansas City and St. Joe were big stockyards. One of my best friend's dad worked there all his adult life.

They moved so they could get away from the unions and import cheap illegal labor from Mexico by paying them half of what they did citizens. No company moves to a place where there is no labor unless the company believes they can use illegal labor.

Even now they roam the Texas streets for the homeless, etc. It's disgusting.

Postville is 78 miles from my home town. It WAS a quiet, self sufficient community until Agri-Processors came along. -{Postville didn't need Agri-Processors to survive. It was just like 100's of other little towns in the area that where the people are either retired, farmers, or work in a larger city nearby.

Dianne is right. Agriprocessors moved to Postville because they were planning in recruiting and hiring illegal immigrants, from Guatemala. They also opened a plant on an Indian Reservation. They are looking for minorities to exploit and underpay.

What was interesting in the article, Native Americans from the Reservation plant came to Postvville and refused to stay. They said the working conditions in Postville were far too deplorable.

From the article:"A group of Native Americans brought in from a smaller Agriprocessors plant in Gordon, Neb., left within days, saying working conditions were worse than expected and the company hadn’t made good on its promises."

Liquid,I agree with you.My husband and I were watching "Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. That is one of the most difficult jobs. Workers work from morning til night for days in a row, foregoing sleep for days at at time in the coldest and most treacherous weather.Yet many workers, American workers, work those hours in those conditions because they are compensated very well, usually with a percentage of the catch.

My husband and I also watched "30 days" last week. The writer spent 30 days as a coal miner. This is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Workers stay underground in the mines for long hours in dangerous conditions.The workers were all American citizens. They were compensated very well. They make about $60 - $80K, or about $30 - $40 an hour.

Pat,Agriprocessors is in Iowa. Just down the road from them is Chicago. Also not to far is Kansas City and St Louis. All three cities have a vast number of homeless shelters. Why would they venture several states south, down to Texas, other than to try to pick up and exploit Latino workers.

The article didn't mention citizen Latino homeless workers. It just mentioned homeless workers, period. The one person mentioned didn't even have a Hispanic surname.

As I said, most Latino's are family orientated and they will always take in their own and give them a roof over their heads. I would imagine there are many more White and Black homeless than Latinos. Of course, "some" of these homeless could have been Latinos but the article didn't mention that. My suggestion would be to not insert remarks that aren't there.

What's bother me is that most of Nativists, Protectionist, Anti Immigrants sees the Undocumented Immigrants as a Criminal, Offender, a Fugitive, Unwanted, Undesirable when no one talks about unlawful employers who's taking advantage of the poor undocumented Immigrant?There is no fair treatment and balance justice? Isn't?Since when Hyprocisy is Family Values?

Sorry, Pro, your lack of research and of labeling positions of Nativists, Protectionist, Anti Immigrants, is purely ignorant and inept on your behalf. Your lack of understanding "LAW" is also problematic. Understand what you are trying to imply and state, you might find that "ALL" of us are on the same sheet of music in regards to the employers, however, due to the "LAWS" we are unable to achieve what we want. We all agree this should be changed.

And for your information, "Illegal Immigrants" ARE in Criminal Violation of our Immigration laws, unless they are visa over stayers.

There are criminal and civil violations of immigration law. Civil violations include, for example, illegal presence and failure to depart after the expiration of a temporary visa. Criminal violations include illegal entry, re-entry after deportation, and failure to depart after an order of removal. To make matters more complicated, those in this last category are committing a criminal offense only if the government can show that they “willfully” failed to depart; but most removal orders are entered in absentia. If failure to depart is not “willful” (if, for example, the person was not aware that there was a removal order entered against them), the offense is a civil violation.

Liquid,What Pro is saying is the same amount of effort is NOT made to demonize/criminalize the employer by the ANTIs as is done for the workers themselves. This is Very, Very true!! If I were to do a tally on the ANTI message boards listing how many topics concern demonizing the employers vs demonizing the worker, it would be 1 employer v 99 against the worker.

I will say on my blog, the ANTIs that are here (the vast majority) do in fact rally against the employers with same vehemence the PROs here do, however, that is not the same across the internet.

Oh please pro, we anti's have mentioned the greedy employers in here over and over and that we want them punished also. Every anti forum I have been into the anti's all agree on that. So there is no hypocricy involved.

We aren't anti-immigrant either, we are anti-illegal immigration. I get so sick of you pros not using the right terminology. There is a big difference between the two groups. Why shouldn't we be nativist or protectionist about our country in regards to illegal immigration? If that is a bad thing then all countries are guilty of it.

Illegals are all guilty of crossing our borders without papers. Many commit more serious crimes after arriving here such as identity theft or worse so don't tell me about the "poor undocumented" not being treated fair or not receiving justice.

Pat,Your problem is you have your own vocabulary and you want everyone to use yours. Sorry! The reality is, we are a land of immigrants. Most of those who have come here illegally were enticed here with jobs, jobs provided by citizen employers. Most are not as heinous and exploitive as Agriprocessors. Additionally, over 40% of the 12M are visa overstays. The are not felons! So stop with your hypocrisy!!

I feel saddest for teh Guatemalans! They are solicited, made promises, and come here, worked under the worst conditions, and if they say anything, as in the case of Agriprocessors, they are subject to ICE Raids and Detention Centers. Then, they have nothing to return to but a war savaged, hurricane ravaged world!

BUT UNLESS and until some wrongdoing is actually proven, not merely suspected or charged, no human being - certainly no Jew, bound as we are by the Torah's clear admonition in such matters - has any right to assume guilt, much less voice condemnation or seek to levy punishment.

This falls under the question I have asked in here many times, that nobody has yet to answer.

Who actually hired the "Illegal Immigrants"? The CEO, the VP, the Human Resources Department? Who should be held accountable? An Inc. is an individual of its own. Blame should fall on those, after a thorough investigation has been conducted, and they should be held accountable, but to condemn all is a bit haste. Dee uses the phrase in here of "Innocent until 'proven' Guilty", why is it "Guilty until 'proven' innocent" about Agriprocessor's Inc.?

We are no longer a nation of immigrants. We are now a nation of Americans by several generations. Most all countries take in immigrants, does that make them nations of immigrants also?

At any rate we have immigration laws so we are not a nation of illegal aliens so what has that do with immigrants?

It doesn't matter how these illegals came here by enticement or otherwise. They had no right to do so and neither did the employers have the right to hire them. That is the bottom line!

What hypocricy? I am well aware that 40% of illegals are visa overstayers and they need to be deported along with the 60% who jumped our borders illegally. There is not hypocricy in that!

I certainly can see the hypocricy in sympathizing with the illegals though by only chastizing the employers for their role in this but not the illegals themselves! Too bad some can't see their own hypocricy while accusing others of it. I am for punished BOTH guilty parties. Can you say the same? I thought not!

Liquid,I call it protectionism of the employers. Why do you give the workers swift Cattle Barn justice and have them in jail within 30 days, yet you cannot even indict one Agriprocessor employer, whether HR, CEO, manager, or even the supervisor who extorted the workers? Why isnt your side up in arms about that? How will you get to the bottom of anything if you dont arrest the guilty and charge them with a crime? They have the documentation, why are the employers not being arrested? All of them? Any of them?The exploiter has now been whisked away to Israel! How guilty is that!! Shame on you for not being up in arms about all of them running around scot free, free to run away from justice!!

Liquid,Why arent you up in arms that Amara wasnt arrested? There were plenty of witnesses and all of this documentation was in warrants. Why wasnt he arrested? He could have given up the bigger names?Yet the workers suffered swift Cattle Barn justice!

Where is your excuse now??

From the article:The supervisor, Hasom Amara, sometimes required workers to buy illicitly registered cars as a condition of work, three former workers have told the Iowa Independent. Their stories corroborate allegations first made by a federal immigration agent in the search warrant obtained for the May 12 raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. facility in which 389 workers were detained.

We anti's have all agreed in here that all the guilty parties involved in the Agriprocessor fiasco should be investigated, arrested under reasonable suspicion and convicted if found guilty. What else do you want us to do? What does "be up in arms" mean? Should we scream it on the rooftops, take the law into our own hands via a lynching party...what? We aren't law enforcement. Why not let them investigate and seek justice as they are sworn and paid to do? If you feel so strongly about it, why don't you show the powers that be how up in arms YOU are about it rather than telling others that they aren't taking enough action or worse yet accusing them of not caring about it when they have plainly expressed that they do.

Liquid,Excuses do not become you.No one at Agriprocessors has been arrested and there was plenty of probable cause in the arrest warrants.Now, one of the biggest exploiters has escaped to Israel.They had plenty of proof and accusers for him.ICE could have put on the pressure and found out more information about the real perpetrators, the owners. Now he has been provided escape to Israel.All so very convenient for the GOP PAC contributers.

Excuses??? There are no excuses on my behalf. Again, you need to learn and understand what "DUE PROCESS" is, until then you can yell and scream all you want, what good is it doing?? There are other means to resolve the issue, time will show you what they are. Until then, all you have is the system we have in place, learn to use it to your advantage.

Liquid, I am still trying to figure our what sort of actions and words are required to be "up in arms." Seems like the person who is so up in arms in here about it isn't doing anything more than we are about it except to let justice run it's course.

Hmm, one could set themselves on fire in front of the White House, coudn't they? That'll show em, lol.

How much more evidence do you need to bring in someone like Amara in for questioning. There were plenty of witnesses. The information was in the arrest warrants. They had him. Then they could have leveraged what they had on him to obtain the information to arrest the Owners and HR. Now they have allowed Amara to escape the country and run to Israel.

Some investigation. They didnt even try!I see no website on your side even caring about this!

Yet there was swift Cattle Barn justice for the workers and your side cheered them on!!Shameful!!

I can't speak for other individuals in other forums. If you don't think that the employers are getting their just dues quick enough then why don't you go into those anti forums and let them know instead of ranting in here? I am only an individual who wants both the employers and the illegals punished. I have made MY position very clear as have other anti's in THIS blog.

Pat,You have gone beyond the pale yet again. For you to make your statement below about my voicing my opinion on my blog, is beyond ludicrous. As such, all I can do is laugh about it.

And, as an fyi, I go on many forums and I do voice my opinion on this. (very often!) Usually I leave the other side sputtering at the end of the discussion. I do have to say that I do get the most support and the best arguments from most of you here.

It is one thing to voice your opinion in here about an issue but quite another to include those in your blog as being responsible for what the whole anti movement does or doesn't do, or does and doesn't say.

We have all made ourselves pretty clear in here how we stand on all the issues regarding illegal immigration...the employers (their guilt) the illegals themselves (their guilt) any proved abuse, etc. Yet you rant on like we are taking the opposite point of view just because you don't read something in some anti forum that you feel they should say.

Look to Projectusa.com Dee, you even left your mark there and congratulated the blog owner, who is an ANTI by your standards. So your statement of not hearing it on the ANTI side is false and misleading as usual on your behalf. Debate with honesty, it might make you look a little more intelligent, and not so two-faced. Please don't end up like Evelyn on Latina Lista who is just to ignorant and full of herself to listen, comprehend, and argue the simple facts vs attempting to demoralize the messenger, which just makes her look stupid. Don't end up like her.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A family of Ecuadorean immigrants has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the owners of a Connecticut bakery shop where they worked of sexually and verbally abusing them for years.

They also accuse the owners of Rocco's Bakery in New Haven of refusing to pay the minimum wage or overtime and threatening to have them deported if they complained.

The unusual lawsuit by undocumented immigrants was filed earlier this month under the federal Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. The law was designed to fight what the lawsuit calls a modern form of slavery in which victims are forced to work for illegally low wages.

Human traffickers often target vulnerable workers such as the plaintiffs who are from a foreign country, have limited education and speak little or no English, the lawsuit says.

I say bravo to them, they are using the law to their advantage, and hopefully the Bakery owners get what they have coming to them. Justice in an indirect manner. Although the "Illegal Immigrants" will probably be deported after all is said and done, they will get their accusations looked at and will hopefully win their case, rewarding them with their back pay, any other benefits they may be entitled to, and put the owners of the company out of business.

Like I said, Dee, use the laws to your advantage, don't be an "Evelyn"!! ROFLMAO!!

"It's the hidden agenda that we have", my god she figures it out. LMFAO.

There is no hidden agenda, all she has to do is argue sensibly, it's not about race, scapegoating, white dominance, etc. etc. etc., it's about the simple fact of the laws, no hidden agenda at all. I enjoy reading topix, and many other various blogs and forums, just to try to understand their rational in thinking, and I laugh with some of their reasonings, when it really is just as simple as the law, they can't fathom that.

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This Blog promotes the discussion of opinions of the Blog Owner and commenters who wish to participate in the discussion about Immigration Issues and Political Issues.

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Hello. My name is Dee. I live in Texas. I am an American. My ethnicity is Hispanic. Many would call me Mexican or Mexican American. Some call me a female, PRO-Immigration Reform - Ann Coulter.
My parents, their parents and theirs were all born in the USA.
My husband and I have been happily married for over 20 years. My husband is a big, Irish-American. We have two grown sons. We are happy and my family is doing well. I have been employed as a mid level manager at a very large, well known corporation for over 25 years, now recently retired.
In May, 2006, after the Immigration Marches, I started seeing the cable news channels talking very negatively about illegal immigration. I found many internet sites were talking negatively about legal and illegal immigration issues as well.
Since I do research on the job, I started conducting Immigration research on the web. I joined several Immigration websites and I researched others. I´ve learned so much about Immigration issues over the last year.
What you don´t see on the internet is the Mexican American perspective.
I am here to share my views with you.